Current Affairs - Awards and Honours

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) received the 'Changemaker of the Year' award in 2023 from the Hindu BusinessLine newspaper for playing a pivotal role in handling the Indian economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Writer and scholar S.K. Vasanthan has been chosen for this year's Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, the top prize instituted by the Kerala government in the field of literature. His major works such as Kerala Samskara Charitra Nikhandu and Nammal Nadanna Vazhikal - two works dealing with the cultural history of Kerala and Padinjaran Kavya Mimamsa are notable additions to the body of scholarly literature in Malayalam.

Kozhikode in Kerala and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh have made it to the prestigious creative cities list of UNESCO for contributions in the fields of literature and music, respectively. The announcement was made by UNESCO on its official website on October 31, which is designated as World Cities Day.

T. Padmanabhan was awarded the prestigious Kerala Jyothi award by the Kerala government in 2023. This highest civilian honour in the state was awarded to Padmanabhan in recognition of his exceptional contributions to Malayalam literature. Padmanabhan is a renowned writer of novels, short stories, and essays. He is also a translator and a critic. His works have been translated into several languages. Padmanabhan is considered to be one of the most important writers in Malayalam literature today.

India-born author Nandini Das won the British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding in 2023 for her debut book, 'Courting India: England, Mughal India, and the Origins of Empire.' This remarkable work, hailed as the “true origin story of Britain and India told through England’s first diplomatic mission to the Mughal courts,” secured the top spot this year at a ceremony held at the British Academy in London.